So here are my most cooked meals every month. Some with links to the recipes. I think I may try one major grocery shopping trip for the month to buy most of the ingredients and I may even start cooking some ahead of time and freezing them so things go smoothly after school gets going. Having a meal in the freezer keeps me from running out to a restaurant. If a recipe involves ground beef we usually use ground turkey and look for other substitutions in these recipes to save fat/calories/salt.
Potato Soup with Paninis
Waffles and Turkey Bacon (thanks to this magic machine and the waffle plates)
Beef Stew and homemade bread
Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Mashed potatoes and Veggies
Ham and Homemade Mac and Cheese
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Veggies
Grilled Salmon, Rice, Salad
Our Favorite Chicken, Rice, Veggies
Mostaccioli, Salad
Chili with Cornbread Muffins
Taco Salad
Stuffed Peppers with Veggies
Chicken and Dumplings and Salad
Tacos or Burritos with Rice and Beans
Spaghetti with Salad and Garlic Bread
Sloppy Joes with Sweet Potato Fries
Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup with Quesadillas
Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches with Steak Fries and Veggies
Baked Flounder/Cod/etc with Rice and Steamed Broccoli
Stir Fry Chicken or Beef with Rice (frozen stir fry veggies with the meat with this and then I make fried rice)
Marinated Grilled Chicken with Rice and Veggies
I usually try 2-5 new recipes every month so those are somewhere in the rotation and we eat out occasionally.
Share your family favorites!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Money Saving tip for Pet Owners
As many of you have heard, Wal-mart is now selling a generic version of Frontline called PetArmor. I'm sure it is cheaper than buying Frontline throught the vet but there is another way to save money and keep those pesky buggers off your furry kids if they are smaller dogs or cats. They charge you the same amount whether you are buying a three month supply for a Chihuahua or a Great Dane but the amount per dose is very different. So I buy the biggest bottle designed for the biggest dogs for our Schnorkie (who only weighs 10 lbs) and just repackage and dose out exactly how much she needs. I found an old Mylicon bottle that actually shows 0.6mL which is perfect because the proper dosing for a small dog is 0.67mL, so I just go a little over the 0.6mL line on the dropper. I marked out the label for safety and keep the bottle inside the PetArmor box so there is no confusion.
Here is the dosing by weight as shown on an eBay seller's site who sells the larger bottles. This is how I used to buy it before Wal-Mart began selling PetArmor. This will help the boxes go a lot longer and ensure your furbaby is flea-free for cheap!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Cowgirl 1st Birthday
Our Menu was:
Sliced Brisket or Smoked Sausage
Potato Salad
Beans
Watermelon
Banana Pudding Cupcakes with dark chocolate cowboy hats
Our drinks were Cowgirl Pucker (cherry limeade and pink lemonade) for everyone and Parker County Punch (Fuzzy Navel mix, OJ, and Malibu Rum) for the grown-ups
Here are the pics!
You can buy her shirt from www.leelynncrafts.com
My first attempt at fondant for her smash cake
found the cowboy ducks on Amazon
They had this pinata at Party City.
Yee Haw!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Keeping it Clean
I'm back on a cleaning schedule everyone! I slacked a while after we moved into our new home but I'm back on track. For those of you looking for ways to keep a cleaner home without the strict "Fly Lady" type schedule, here goes.
I keep my cleaning chart on my kids' chore chart so they see that everyone has a job to do every day.
Every morning, I announce what their chores are for the day and what area I'm going to focus on. I do a specific deep cleaning every day plus our "10 Minute Pick-Up" which I will explain later.
Today's focus was the kitchen. I spent about 30 minutes to an hour deep cleaning which to me means: steam mopping, cleaning the appliances, counters, organizing, etc. Yesterday was the Master Suite so I vacuumed and straightened up my room, and deep cleaned my bathroom.
This way I know that it all gets cleaned every week and my kids know that we do our housework first and then we can sit back and play.
Now on to the "10 Minute Pick-Up". This is my sanity saver. Every night at 10pm, my husband and I set the timer for 10 minutes and pick up the house as fast as we can. That usually includes loading and starting the dishwasher, starting the washing machine, picking up a few toys, sweeping the floor and wiping down the cabinets. It is amazing what can get done in just 10 minutes! Then we can go to bed and the morning starts off with a fairly clean home.
Hope this helps someone!
I keep my cleaning chart on my kids' chore chart so they see that everyone has a job to do every day.
Every morning, I announce what their chores are for the day and what area I'm going to focus on. I do a specific deep cleaning every day plus our "10 Minute Pick-Up" which I will explain later.
Today's focus was the kitchen. I spent about 30 minutes to an hour deep cleaning which to me means: steam mopping, cleaning the appliances, counters, organizing, etc. Yesterday was the Master Suite so I vacuumed and straightened up my room, and deep cleaned my bathroom.
This way I know that it all gets cleaned every week and my kids know that we do our housework first and then we can sit back and play.
Now on to the "10 Minute Pick-Up". This is my sanity saver. Every night at 10pm, my husband and I set the timer for 10 minutes and pick up the house as fast as we can. That usually includes loading and starting the dishwasher, starting the washing machine, picking up a few toys, sweeping the floor and wiping down the cabinets. It is amazing what can get done in just 10 minutes! Then we can go to bed and the morning starts off with a fairly clean home.
Hope this helps someone!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Raising Grateful Children
I love my kids but they all go through different phases. Lately, my kids have seemed very entitled and ungrateful for what they have and what we do for them. I tried to think of ways to turn this around and I came up with a few ways to remind them of how blessed they are.
1. Dinnertime thankfulness: Every night at dinner, we are going around the table saying one thing we are grateful for that day. It may not be much but it gives us a chance to reflect on the blessings we received that day and it usually becomes a good conversation starter.
2. Work before you play: My kids have had chores for a while but they just have to get them done sometime during the day. This Summer we have done a lot of fun activities in the community and their gratitude for that has not been reflected in their behavior. So, they have to do their chores before I will take them to do anything fun or have friends over. I want them to understand that going to the pool, play dates, etc are a privilege, not a right.
3. Giving and serving: I have been talking to them a lot about how much they have compared to most kids around the world. I think that conversation can be done without becoming a giant guilt trip (at lease I hope). I had them gather up toys to donate to a local charity and we are talking about other opportunities for them to serve.
How do you encourage an attitude of gratitude in your home?
1. Dinnertime thankfulness: Every night at dinner, we are going around the table saying one thing we are grateful for that day. It may not be much but it gives us a chance to reflect on the blessings we received that day and it usually becomes a good conversation starter.
2. Work before you play: My kids have had chores for a while but they just have to get them done sometime during the day. This Summer we have done a lot of fun activities in the community and their gratitude for that has not been reflected in their behavior. So, they have to do their chores before I will take them to do anything fun or have friends over. I want them to understand that going to the pool, play dates, etc are a privilege, not a right.
3. Giving and serving: I have been talking to them a lot about how much they have compared to most kids around the world. I think that conversation can be done without becoming a giant guilt trip (at lease I hope). I had them gather up toys to donate to a local charity and we are talking about other opportunities for them to serve.
How do you encourage an attitude of gratitude in your home?
Thursday, July 21, 2011
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